IN OUR OPINION

Environmental ‘cluster bomb’

Published: Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, April 5, 2013 at 6:56 p.m.

Far-reaching legislation that would relax or eliminate a long list of critical environmental regulations is winding its way through both chambers of the Florida Legislature and, amazingly, is stirring virtually no debate among lawmakers, let alone resistance.

The two bills, Senate Bill 1684 and House Bill 999, which are similar, are making their way through the committee process and are remarkable not only because of the depth of the rollbacks in environmental regulation they propose, but because of the breadth of the environmental landscape they cover.

Among the regulatory protections these bills would remove or greatly relax are wetlands permitting, water permitting, marina development, development permitting, air pollution permitting, water management board authority and water sampling and testing, for starters. In all, each bill is more than 40 pages long and would seriously weaken environmental laws — something that has become an annual ritual in Tallahassee.

Consider some of the specifics. On water, these bills would dictate how water management boards rule on cases of competing water permits. They also would prohibit cities and counties from passing any local ordinances or laws regulating water wells — of which Marion County has more than 100,000. Laws that now require water permit holders to reduce their groundwater allotment if an alternative supply becomes available would no longer apply, allowing the user to pump both the aquifer and the alternative supply permit.

As for development, the bills inexplicably would limit the number of times counties or cities could “request additional information” from the permit-seeker to three. That’s right, they could only go back to the developer three times seeking additional information about the project, no matter how big or complex it is.

The proposals also would remove man-made lakes, ponds or drainage areas in “upland” areas from any sort of regulation, while all but eviscerating regulations for disrupting wetland areas.

What is particularly bothersome about these bills, besides the fact they represent a conscious and continuous dismantling of Florida’s environmental protection legacy, is that there are so many different areas covered in these oversized, overstuffed bills. Why is marina permitting included along with development permitting and water management board guidelines. There are virtually dozens and dozens of distinct and different regulations crammed into these bills.

“Every year, a compendium of every lobbyist’s dream amendments, all strung together as if they were one real piece of legislation, comes barreling into Tallahassee as an ‘environmental train’ bill,” the Florida Conservation Commission wrote its members about SB 1084 and HB 999. “Pressure builds for passage as each lobbyist gets their special little amendment onboard the train ... and it gathers steam.”

The fear with bills like this, Florida Audubon’s Eric Draper told us, is that they are like “cluster bombs.”

“This has a bunch of things that will harm the environment,” Draper said. “Lots and lots of impacts — not a big bomb, but lots of little bombs, like a cluster bomb going off.”

We urge our legislators to help diffuse this reckless piece of special-interest legislation. Florida’s environment is too fragile and too important to our economy and our lifestyle to play fast and loose with it.

<p>Far-reaching legislation that would relax or eliminate a long list of critical environmental regulations is winding its way through both chambers of the Florida Legislature and, amazingly, is stirring virtually no debate among lawmakers, let alone resistance.</p><p>The two bills, Senate Bill 1684 and House Bill 999, which are similar, are making their way through the committee process and are remarkable not only because of the depth of the rollbacks in environmental regulation they propose, but because of the breadth of the environmental landscape they cover.</p><p>Among the regulatory protections these bills would remove or greatly relax are wetlands permitting, water permitting, marina development, development permitting, air pollution permitting, water management board authority and water sampling and testing, for starters. In all, each bill is more than 40 pages long and would seriously weaken environmental laws — something that has become an annual ritual in Tallahassee.</p><p>Consider some of the specifics. On water, these bills would dictate how water management boards rule on cases of competing water permits. They also would prohibit cities and counties from passing any local ordinances or laws regulating water wells — of which Marion County has more than 100,000. Laws that now require water permit holders to reduce their groundwater allotment if an alternative supply becomes available would no longer apply, allowing the user to pump both the aquifer and the alternative supply permit.</p><p>As for development, the bills inexplicably would limit the number of times counties or cities could “request additional information” from the permit-seeker to three. That's right, they could only go back to the developer three times seeking additional information about the project, no matter how big or complex it is.</p><p>The proposals also would remove man-made lakes, ponds or drainage areas in “upland” areas from any sort of regulation, while all but eviscerating regulations for disrupting wetland areas.</p><p>What is particularly bothersome about these bills, besides the fact they represent a conscious and continuous dismantling of Florida's environmental protection legacy, is that there are so many different areas covered in these oversized, overstuffed bills. Why is marina permitting included along with development permitting and water management board guidelines. There are virtually dozens and dozens of distinct and different regulations crammed into these bills.</p><p>“Every year, a compendium of every lobbyist's dream amendments, all strung together as if they were one real piece of legislation, comes barreling into Tallahassee as an 'environmental train' bill,” the Florida Conservation Commission wrote its members about SB 1084 and HB 999. “Pressure builds for passage as each lobbyist gets their special little amendment onboard the train ... and it gathers steam.”</p><p>The fear with bills like this, Florida Audubon's Eric Draper told us, is that they are like “cluster bombs.”</p><p>“This has a bunch of things that will harm the environment,” Draper said. “Lots and lots of impacts — not a big bomb, but lots of little bombs, like a cluster bomb going off.”</p><p>We urge our legislators to help diffuse this reckless piece of special-interest legislation. Florida's environment is too fragile and too important to our economy and our lifestyle to play fast and loose with it.</p>